Saturday, October 30, 2021

Coconut Curry Carrot Soup

This recipe is adapted from The Washington Post's soup of the same name and removes the onion, ginger, and chicken broth in favor of alternatives that I can eat.



Ingredients
  • 1 T olive oil (suitable for cooking with)
  • 2-3 stalks celery, diced
  • ¼ tsp asafetida
  • 1 T cardamom 
  • 1 tsp cumin (seeds or ground)
  • 1 tsp coriander, ground
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper, ground
  • ¼ tsp tumeric
  • ⅛-¼ tsp curry powder
  • 1.5 lbs (abt 5 large) carrots, peeled and cut in ¼-½ inch coins
  • 4 c vegetable broth (or quick broth, below if you don't have any vegetable broth)
  • 1 cup full fat coconut milk
  • 2 tsp honey

Quick Broth
  • 1T cooking oil 
  • ¼ tsp asafetida
  • 1 tsp cardamom 
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 1-2 stalks celery, diced
  • 4 c water (use warm to hot water if possible to speed the cooking time)
Important tools:  Blender or immersion blender, medium-to-large cooking pot

Instructions

Quick Broth

If making the quick broth, start that first by measuring out the spices, dicing the celery and heating the oil in a small pan on medium-high depending on your stove.

Once the oil is heated and shimmering add the celery and then the spices and stir until the spices coat the celery, turn the head down to medium and cook the celery until it is translucent.

Add the water and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook while you make the rest of the soup.

Soup

Prep the carrots and celery as above. Open the can of coconut milk and pour into a small bowl to re-emulisfy, then measure out 1 c for the recipe and refrigerate the rest. Measure out the spices into a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a meduim to large pot. You want something large enough to hold the 4 cups of broth along with the carrot mixture with room to stir everything

Once the oil is shimmering add the celery and coat it in the oil and cook it for 3-4 minutes or until the celery is translucent.

Add the spices and stir until the celery is well coated 30 sec- 1 minute.

Add the carrots and the broth. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer for 12-20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and remove from the heat.

If using an immersion blender: 

Transfer the soup to a large metal or ceramic bowl, add the coconut milk and the honey and stir until well mixed. (This will let the soup cool a bit before blending).

Use the immersion blender to blend into a creamy soup and serve.

If using a stand blender: 

Add the coconut milk and honey and stir until well combined and puree in several batches in your stand blender using a second bowl as needed to hold the finished soup. 

Remove the center knob of the blender to allow steam to escape while pureeing and put a paper or cloth towel over the hole to keep from splashing soup around.

Serve warm.

Pairs well with toasted bread topped with mustard and avocado.